Annually resolved North Atlantic marine climate over the last millennium
2016
Owing to the lack of absolutely dated oceanographic information before the modern
instrumental period, there is currently significant debate as to the role played by North
Atlantic Ocean dynamics in previous climate transitions (for example, Medieval Climate
Anomaly-Little Ice Age, MCA-LIA). Here we present analyses of a millennial-length, annually
resolved and absolutely dated marine d18O archive.We interpret our record of oxygen isotope
ratios from the shells of the long-lived marine bivalve Arctica islandica (d18O-shell), from the
North Icelandic shelf, in relation to seawater density variability and demonstrate that solar
and volcanic forcing coupled with ocean circulation dynamics are key drivers of climate
variability over the last millennium. During the pre-industrial period (AD 1000–1800)
variability in the sub-polar North Atlantic leads changes in Northern Hemisphere surface air
temperatures at multi-decadal timescales, indicating that North Atlantic Ocean dynamics
played an active role in modulating the response of the atmosphere to solar and volcanic
forcing
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